


Full and Empty Hearts

by theragingstorm



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Love, canonverse, ie Hans, people who can't love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-07
Packaged: 2018-03-11 00:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3308330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theragingstorm/pseuds/theragingstorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kristoff could love. Hans could not. This is most clearly seen when Kristoff goes to confront him about what he did to Anna.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Full and Empty Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the lovely artwork of sarulak on Tumblr. You're awesome, girl :)

Kristoff had held secrets his whole life, but if he disliked anybody, that would not be one of them. If he didn't like somebody, both they and everybody else in the general vicinity would know very quickly. Usually, it would be accompanied by shouting, insults, and the odd punch thrown, and Kristoff would walk away with new bruises and extra disdain for the human population. Sven or Bulda would then proceed to lecture him about getting angry for silly reasons, and he would scoff.

Now he'd finally opened his eyes to the true kindness and love that people were capable of, and that made their annoying bits more tolerable. But he also was introduced -- not for the first time in his life, but for the first time in a long while -- to just exactly what heartlessness really was.

 

After Queen Elsa had thawed Arendelle with the power of true love and she and Anna had reunited, there was unfortunately a lot to be done. A lot of the kingdom was still terrified, and several of the visiting representatives were threatening to carry bad news about the new queen back to their home countries. The exhausted and emotionally wracked Elsa immediately had to go to a lot of emergency meetings with people who were still suspicious of her (which really didn't seem like a good idea). Meanwhile, Anna was surrounded by fussing servants who were apparently worried about the (highly remote) possibility of her spontaneously freezing again.

"It's not fair," she complained, as she lay on her bed buried under blankets next to a fire with a cup of hot cocoa in her hand. She'd also convinced the servants to let Kristoff in to talk with her, because "I don't wanna get bored, obviously." "Look at me. I get to be pampered like a princess -- well, I _am_ a princess, but that's not important -- while poor Elsa has to work her tail off with people who probably still hate her."

Privately, Kristoff was still more than a little suspicious of Elsa. He had good reason to. She was clearly emotionally unstable and probably had social anxiety and depression to boot. Coupled with her totally amazing but still totally _dangerous_ powers that had literally _killed_ Anna, it didn't seem like a great combination.

But he didn't voice this to Elsa's sister.

"Well, maybe everyone's worried instead about the person who just _died,_ like, ten minutes ago," he suggested instead.

"I may have been dead, but I feel great. If a bit, um, warm. Couldn't say the same for Elsa."

"How would everyone else know? _They've_ never been frozen to death."

"Well, judging by all the complaining some of the coronation guests have been doing, maybe they have."

In spite of himself, Kristoff laughed.

Anna smiled around the rim of her hot cocoa cup.

"Not as grumpy as you first seem," she remarked.

"Yeah? What am I instead?"

"A big softie."

"Get out of here."

"Hey, you shouldn't fight it." Her smile dropped and she shifted a little bit under her covers. "It's nice," she said softly.

Even Kristoff immediately could tell that something was upsetting her.

"Anna?"

"I'm fine," Anna insisted quickly. "Great for the recently-dead, remember? What were we talking about again?"

"Anna, you're a terrible liar."

"That's fabulous coming from you, Mr. You-Hesitated."

Kristoff found himself scowling playfully at her before realizing that she was trying to change the subject.

"Anna, I'm serious. What's bothering you? You seem..." He struggled for a word to describe exactly how she seemed. "...bothered," he finished lamely.

Anna opened her mouth to answer, before she sighed and sank down further into her pillows.

"It's Hans," she finally admitted.

He was quiet for a moment.

"You mean your ex-fiancé. What exactly... _did_ he do? I mean...I guessed that it was something bad, and probably something on top of trying to kill your sister...but you never said what that was."

Anna fidgeted with the handle of her cup.

"I mean...I know it's not true, and I shouldn't let him get to me, and I hope that he catches pneumonia and dies from his swim in the fjord, but wait that's not important..."

Kristoff didn't interrupt. Anna sighed.

"He said that no one loved me. That the only reason he'd ever wanted me was to use me to get to the throne, and that even then it was only because he knew nobody could seduce Elsa. After we married, he was going to kill her anyway...and probably me too, now that I think about it. He laughed at me, Kristoff. I was lying on the floor freezing to death in front of him, and he _laughed._ All his plans were finally coming together, I guess...hey, are you okay?"

From the first time he'd seen Anna, all Kristoff had gotten from her was a sense of invincibility. She was firey and fearless. She could (try to) climb mountain cliffs barehanded and then leap off them without hesitation. She'd dragged him along through their whole mission headfirst before he could even protest. It made any show of weakness or vulnerability from her a thousand times worse. Of course he'd felt it before, carrying her back to the castle and watching her slowly turn to ice. But this... She had thought that no one loved her, and that bastard prince had _known_ that that was the worst thing he could've said to her. But he'd said it anyway.

His breathing had become labored, his vision unfocused. His hands clenched into fists.

Anna leaned forward and rested her hand on his arm.

"Are you planning to do something to him?"

Kristoff was taken aback. His blind anger faded as he looked at her.

"Um...maybe."

"Hmmm." She lay back again. "Well, I would help you, but I think that Gerda would have five heart attacks if I left this bed. Besides, my knuckles still hurt from punching his pretty face. I would hate to have to injure myself again just to make sure his nose stays broken. My body doesn't deserve that."

"You're right, it doesn't," he replied without thinking. Then he began to get to his feet.

"Wait."

"What?"

"We need to get you out of those clothes."

Kristoff gaped at her like a fish, his face heating up.

"I mean, it's summer again," Anna continued obliviously. "You can't go out in ice-harvesting gear in July. I'm sure that Kai can find some summer clothes your size...um...if he tries really hard."

"Oh!" Kristoff exclaimed, feeling like an idiot. Of course that was what she meant. "Okay, sure. Do you want me to go get him?"

"Nah, I can call him." Kristoff realized just in time to clap his hands over his ears.

"HEY!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "HEY! KAI, COULD YOU COME IN HERE FOR A MINUTE? MY FRIEND HERE NEEDS SOME NEW CLOTHING!"

The manservant poked his head around the door with a placid expression, as if this was something Anna did a lot.

"Yes, Your Highness. Hmmm..." He took in Kristoff with a critical eye. "I think that the guards may have something big enough."

"Alright then." Kristoff got to his feet, still with his eyes on Anna. For some reason, he wanted to give her a goodbye kiss. But what if she didn't want to be kissed? "I'll um...see you later then."

"Bye," she replied. Something flickered in her eyes for a moment.

Feeling simultaneously angry, confused, insecure, and affectionate, Kristoff shambled out the door. Being around Anna was hard enough; but now apparently she had the ability to mess with his emotions.

 

After a very long and painful search for summer clothing that could fit him, Kristoff headed down to the dungeons. It wasn't difficult to find them; all he had to do was follow the trail of pissed-off-looking guards. They were just as angry about Hans as him.

"I heard that he tried to kill _both_ sisters after he raped Princess Anna," Kristoff heard one of them mutter to another.

"That's the _only_ way she'd clap eyes on that bastard. The Princess is worth a million of him."

"He didn't _rape_ her," another protested. "He _seduced_ her. But he did try to kill her. I think he even framed Queen Elsa for it!"

"Ha, who does he think would believe that? Queen Elsa would die for her sister!"

"Well, this prince clearly had more hair than brains and even more ruthlessness. I hope his twelve older brothers tie him up and feed him to the sharks."

"Maybe they'll spank him!"

"Somebody _seriously_ needs to clear up these rumors before they get out of hand," Kristoff muttered to himself as he walked into the dank lower cells. "Twelve older brothers...some people will believe _anything._ "

"You're wrong there," called a mellifluous male voice from a cell in the far corner. "I do have twelve older brothers. And not the kind that gave me piggyback rides as a child either."

Kristoff's eyes got used to the dark just in time to make out the cell's occupant. A man in his early twenties, maybe a little older than himself, with green eyes and auburn hair with neat sideburns. His suit had probably been very fine, but was now crusted with dirt and grime and other nameless disgusting things. His face was deadpan blank; not angry or vengeful or anything like Kristoff had expected.

Come to think of it, Kristoff really hadn't expected anything. He hadn't even known what he was going to do once he arrived. He _still_ didn't know.

The disgraced prince sighed dispassionately and stretched back -- well, as much as one could stretch back in a tiny cell.

"If you're one of those oafish guards, please tell your witch queen that your insults are in very poor taste and tiresome besides, so she should probably pay you for something else. Treatment for drunkenness, probably."

"I'm not a guard," Kristoff finally said. "I'm...an ice harvester."

Hans looked around his cell. "Would you look at that. No ice. Well, not anymore. So there must be another reason for you being h--wait a minute." He leaned forward, his eyes narrowed. "I've seen you before. You were on that ship when the kingdom thawed. You wanted to punch me, as I recall, but that idiot princess stopped you."

"Don't call Anna an idiot," Kristoff snapped. "And _she_ punched you, so wipe that smug look off your face."

Instead, Hans' grin grew even wider. "'Anna?' A peasant referring to the princess by her Christian name? You must have quite a... _close_ relationship with her."

"None of your business," he said shortly, but his face began to heat up again.

"How quaint. Tell me. Are you in love with her?"

Kristoff felt like he'd been slapped.

"What?"

"Oh, this is precious. The ice harvester has fallen in love with the princess!" Hans began to laugh. "Oh, good Lord. Wonder what she thinks of that! More than that. What does her ruling sister with the glued-together thighs think of that! I hope that you don't have any pretentions about what she thinks of you, _peasant._ "

He spat the last word out like it tasted bad.

Kristoff wanted to cry and scream. _This_ was who the two emotionally fragile and easily manipulated sisters had been up against? The dice had been loaded right from the start.

"I don't care what Anna thinks of me," he forced out. "All I care about is that she managed to avoid spending the rest of her life with _you._ "

"Well, then she'll be alone."

"Better to be alone than with someone who doesn't love her," Kristoff shot back. "Besides, she won't be alone. She'll always have her sister."

Hans raised his eyebrows.

"You mean her sister who nearly killed her?"

Here Kristoff had no argument. Elsa _had_ nearly killed Anna, hell with that, she had _killed_ Anna. Anna had been _dead._

"You see," Hans continued, "Anna is obviously going to live the rest of her life without having love. And, honestly, I'm not surprised. Who could ever love a stupid little bitch like _her?_ "

Kristoff's anger all came flooding back. He snatched through the bars of the cell and grabbed the disgraced prince by the lapels of his jacket. The two men were nose to nose, and for the first time, he saw a flicker of emotion in those empty green eyes. Fear.

"Who could ever love Anna?" Kristoff snarled. "Who could ever love her? I'll tell you who. Her sister loves her, dammit. Her kingdom and subjects love her. Her servants love her. And screw all sensibility, I _l_ ove her. Anyone who sees her does, because she overflows with love. She's clumsy, reckless, naive, stubborn, and has a smart mouth. She's also kind, loyal, passionate, brave, and the best person I've ever met. Who could love her, ha! Everyone loves her, everyone except _you._ She never deserved to think that no one could love her, and for telling her that, you deserve for me to kill you right now."

The fear was still in Hans' eyes, but he still managed to sneer,

"And...will you?"

In response, Kristoff let go. The prince fell to the floor of his cell, gasping and rubbing his throat.

"I may have my flaws, but at least I'm not a murderer."

Hans tried to sit back, and Kristoff yanked him up back to his eye level.

"But don't you _dare_ come near Anna _or_ her sister _ever_ again. Or else, you’ll have to deal with me. And I won't give you another chance."

He turned on his heel and stalked back toward the stairs.

"Why are you getting so worked up about her?" Hans called after him. He sounded genuinely confused. "She's just another woman. There are millions of better ones in the world."

Kristoff paused, and turned around long enough to say,

"But I love _this_ one."

He walked up the stairs back into his princess's castle, leaving Hans behind in his ignorance.

 

\--Fin--


End file.
